Transfer apparatus



5 She'ets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 21, 1945 v To M 75 P Mm w W6 r 1: A w W M; \\M/ A v May 20, 1947.

L. E. CROSBY- 2,420,867

TRANSFER APPARATUS Fi1ed Feb; 21, 1945- 5 Sheets-Shet 5 1 Armm/ix Patented May 20, 1947 TRANSFER APPARATUS Lawrence E. Crosby,

to Bendix Aviation South Bend, Ind., assignor Corporation, South Bend,

Ind, a corporation of Delaware Application February 21, 1945, Serial No. 579,012

3 Claims.

This device relates generally to transfer apparatus and particularly to loading devices for air boxes for testing carburetors.

With present air boxes considerable difliculty has been encountered in loading carburetors into same and removing them therefrom and consid-' erable time is consumed securing the carburetors in position in the box as well as in releasing them. This is particularly true with the heavier types of carburetors such as are used on aircraft and the like, and it is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide means for overcoming the foregoing difiiculties.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character whereby carburetors may be quickly loaded into the air box, secured in position for testing, and quickly and easily removed after tests have been completed.

Still another object of the invention isto provide a device of this character that is relatively inexpensive and that is simple in construction and reliable in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a partial diagrammatic sectional view of an air box embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view taken on line ure 1;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side view of a pneumatic control valve;

Figure 4 is a sectional of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a partial diagrammatic sectional view of an air box embodying a modification of the present invention.

Throughout the specification similar reference characters represent similar parts although where such parts are modified in structure and operation they are given a further different reference character.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1, reference characters I9 and [2 refer to the bottom and side walls respectively of the air box. This box may be of any well known character, the construction andarrangement of which is well known in the art, and only such parts as relate directly to the present invention will be shown and described here. For example, there is an opening l4 in the bottom I!) which has a connection with a source of suction or vacuum and the opening is covered by a plate It which is marginally secured by bolts I8 to said bottom 2-2 of Figview taken on line 4 -4 H]. The plate It has an upraised portion 20 to which a carburetor, generally indicated at 22 may be attached for test purposes, there being an air opening 24 in the upper wall 26 of the uprais-ed portion 28 of the plate I6, through which fluid, including air, from the carburetor is drawn during a test. Heretofore the carburetor has been bolted to the plate but in the present arrangement such bolting of the car buretor is unnecessary as will be apparent from the description below.

The present invention is shown herein as comprising a pneumatic cylinder 28 closed at its top and bottom ends by plates 35 and 32 respectively and secured together by bolts 34. As shown herein, the cylinder is positioned vertically, pref erably in a corner of the box, and is secured to the bottom It) by bolts 35. Within the cylinder there is'a piston 33 having a rod 49 which extends upwardly through an orifice provided therefor in. plate 35, and is attached to a sleeve 42 of an arm 44, said rod 40 being connected to the sleeve 42 by a laterally extending portion 46, and said sleeve is slidable and rotatable on a guide member 48 secured adjacent its ends by collars 50 which are attached by any suitable means such as bolts, not shown, to the adjacent wall of the air box. Preferably the arm 44 is provided with a curved portion 52 adjacent its free end for a purpose to be hereinafter described. A second arm 54 is pivoted at 56 to said free end of arm 44 and is adapted to swing horizontally, as shown in the drawings. The arm 54 is also provided with a portion 58 adjacent the pivoted end which is curved similar to portion 52 of arm 44. The arm 54 is provided with an enlarged boss 60 adjacent its free end, said boss being provided with a bore which receives a'bolt 62 adapted to secure the hub portion 64 of a spider, indicated generally at 66 to arm 54. The spider includes arms 68 which,

as shown, extend downwardly from the hub 64 and the ends of said arms 68 are so arranged as to be received in the usual bolt openings in the body of the carburetor 22, said ends of the arms 68 being threaded for receiving retaining nuts iii. In the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed the force for actuating the piston 38 is compressed air, that is, air under superatmospheric pressure, although some other suitable force may be employed. The air is supplied from any suitable source such as a tank or pump, not shown, and said air is adapted to be delivered below or above the piston 38 as desired, there being a control valve, indicated generally at 72 which receives the air through a port I4 in a chamber I6 within the valve casing I8. A fixed member 88 is provided in the casing and is provided with a flat surface 82 against which a rotatable valve plate 84 is received. The valve plate is secured to a shaft 86 which extends outwardly of the casing I8 and carries, adjacent its outer end, a ratchet 8B which is actuated by a pawl 95] carried by a foot actuated lever 92 mounted on a bearing 94 which extends outwardly of the casing I8 of the valve and separates the ratchet 88 from the adjacent wall of said casing. The pawl and ratchet arrangement is so constructed and arranged that each time the lever 92 is actuated the valve plate'84 is rotated 180 degrees. The valve plate 84 is provided with an opening 95 which is adapted to register alternately with the respective outlet passages 98 and I80 located in the member 89 and on diametrically opposite sides thereof. The passage 98 is connected by a conduit I02 with the upper end of the cylinder 28 and the passage IBIJ is connected by a conduit I84 with the lower end of the cylinder. Thus each time the pedal lever 92 is actuated the port 98 will register with either the passage 98 or I09 to provide 'air to'the upper or lower end respectively of the cylinder-2'8 to thereby effect a downward or upward movement of the piston 38 in accordance with the registration of the port 96 with one or the other of said passages 98 and I68.

In order to relieve the pressure on the side. of the piston opposite that into which compressed air is admitted for operation thereof the valve plate'84 is provided with 'a pressure relief duct Ifll, one end of which communicates with passage 98 or IE9 respectively when the port 96 communicates with the other of said passages. The other end of duct IIlI communicates with atmosphere through respective adjacent ports I03 and I85. It is to be noted that the duct will also provide atmospheric communication for either passage 98 or I08 every time the plate 84 is rotated 180 degrees.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be noted that the arms 44 and 54 are so formed that when they are swung outwardly through the door opening I66 in the front wall I08 of the air box when door I89 is open, the free end of arm 54 may be positioned toward one side of the air box. The carburetor to be tested may be placed on a table or other support, not shown, located closely adjacent the air box and the table should be of the proper height so that arms 68 of the spider 66 may be readily secured to the carburetor when the piston is in the lowered position. It may be noted here that the curvature of the arms 44 and 54 is such that the free end of the latter arm may be swung to a position closely adjacent the outer wall of the box where the above mentioned table may be located for the sake of convenience as well as for conservation of space in the testing room. The'lever 92 is then actuated to provide air under pressure beneath the piston 38 for raising same and effecting raising of the arms 44 and 54 together with the carburetor 22. The carburetor supported by the arms, is then swung into the air box and aligned with the opening 24 in the plate I6. The pedal lever 92 is then actuated to reverse the supply of air to the cylinder 28 and effect downward movement of the piston 38 thereby lowering the carburetor onto the plate I6. By maintaining the pressure of air in the upper portion of the cylinder'28 suificient force is provided on the arms 44 and 54 to hold the carburetor in position on the plate. If desired a gasket IIIl may be provided between the carburetor flange I I2 and the plate I6 to prevent leakage of air between said flange and plate. After a test has been made the valve I2 is actuated to raise the carburetor which may then be swung out of the box and upon again actuating the valve 12 the carburetor will be lowered onto the above mentioned support and may be readily detached from the spider arms 68.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 5, it is to be noted that the arm 54 is provided with an upwardly curved portion II4 so that the horizontal portion of arm 54 is in a plane above the plane of the arm 44. This arrangement may be used for certain types of carburetors such, for example, as those adapted to be mounted at an angle, as shown in said Figure 5. With carburetors of this type, it is common practice to interpose a funnel like device H6 between the spider and the carburetor, air being adapted to flow through said funnel into said carburetor.

It is to be noted that the air box also has an opening in the top wall, indicated at II8 which is closed by a plate I28 when the carburetor being tested is of the downdraft type and is secured'to the lower plate I6. Should it be desired to test a carburetor of the updraft type the lower opening I4 is closed by an imperforate plate, such as that shown at I20, and a plate I22, having a suitable openingtherein, is substituted for said plate I20 which closes the opening II8. With such an arrangement the arms 44 and 54 are lowered and swung outwardly of the air box and the carburetor is then mounted on the spider, the latter now being attached to the arm 54 in an inverted position. The carburetor is then swung into the air box and the arms 44 and 54 raised by pneumatic pressure to urge the carburetor into sealing association with the upper plate in which position said carburetor is held throughout the test by said pneumatic pressure. To remove the carburetorthe arms '44 and 54 are lowered and swung out of the box whereupon 'the carburetor may be detached from said arms.

From the the foregoing description it is thought that it will be apparent that the invention may be otherwise constructed and arranged without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of the material advantages thereof, the form illustrated and described herein being merely a preferred embodiment.

I claim:

1. In transfer apparatus for thepurpose specified: an air box having a large opening therein; a vertical guide positioned adjacent one side-of the opening; an arm pivoted on the guide and adapted to move longitudinally thereon, said arm having its free end adapted to be swung through the opening in the box, said free end being curved outwardly relative to the box; a second arm having one end pivoted to the first arm adjacent the free end thereof, the second arm being curved adjacent its pivoted end similarly to-the curvature of the first arm; a spider attached-to the free end of the second arm and adapted to be attached to a device to be tested; a pneumatic cylinder adjacent a corner of the box and'locatedadjacent the guide; a piston within the cylinder; means connecting the piston and the first mentioned arm whereby the armmay "-be moved from a position adjacent one end'of-the guide to a position adjacent the other end of the guide; means connecting each end of the cylinder with a source of compressed 'air; and

control means adapted to so control the compressed air as to provide said air for one end of the cylinder or the other.

2. In apparatus for transferring relatively heavy devices such as carburetors into and from an enclosure such as an air box having an opening therein through which the carburetor is moved, vertical guide means anchored in the box adjacent said opening, an arm mounted for vertical movement on the guide and also rotational movement thereon in a horizontal plane, power means for moving said arm vertically on said guide, a second arm pivotally connected to the free end of the first named arm, each of said arms being similarly curved in the region of the pivotally connected ends thereof, and means for supporting a carburetor from the outer free end of the second-named arm.

3. In transfer apparatus particularly adapted for moving relatively heavy objects such as carburetors into and removing them from an enclosure such as an air box having an opening therein through which the carburetors are moved, a vertical guide anchored in the box adjacent said opening, an arm mounted for vertical sliding movement on the guide, power means for imparting vertical movement to said arm, said arm being also swingable in a horizontal plane about said guide and having a free end curved in a manner such that when the arm is swung outwardly relative to said opening its free extremity will extend through said opening with the curved portion thereof remote from said opening, a second arm pivoted to the free end of said first-named arm, said latter arm having its pivotally connected extremity curved in the same direction as the first-named arm so that when the arms are swung out of the box opening their outer free ends describe a reversely-turned hookshaped boom member, and a spider-shaped member attached to the free end of the second-named arm and arranged to engage a carburetor or similar object.

L. E. CROSBY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 415,230 Tilghman Nov. 19, 1889 1,842,911 Manierre Jan. 26, 1932 1,037,784 Manierre Sept. 3, 1912 343,417 Aiken June 8, 1886 428,749 Frank May 27, 1890 615,924 Thomlinson Dec. 13, 1898 2,272,949 Kidder Feb. 10, 1942 2,131,133 Babson Sept. 27, 1938 1,532,255 Miller Apr. 7, 1925 1,755,785 McCord Apr. 22, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 389,343 Germany Oct. 17, 1922 

